The Ghost of Rome
by Luke Schnee
Summary: Ahposhon is one of the only Roman's still alive after the fall of Rome over a millennia ago. He had survived the destruction, but only because of the powers he was given by his patron god Mars. He now works under the servitude of being one of the knights of Sir Galahad, and he is one the last Champions of Rome. How will the last Hound of Mars live and how many enemies will he make?


The echo of catapults runs through the Keep, the sound of men and women passing away from their injuries falling on deaf ears. A group of four run through one of the Keep's corridors, trying to get to the main force. The group consists of two men and women, all warriors of the Keep. The members of the group are diverse: two Japanese women, a Scottsman, and a Roman officer

"Damn it, those Mount Ignus cultists are very persistent! Iyu, Tsun, Ahposhon we are gonna have to flank them from the west. Hopefully we'll be able to take them out here and now, so we can take back our land from them," the Scottsman said to the three.

Ahposhon looks around, his helmet underneath his left arm, and his gladius in its sheath at his side. He looks at Iyu and Tsun as he runs, his eyes staying a little longer on Tsun than they do on Iyu. He had to make sure that she would survive, that was his duty as her bodyguard. Thankfully they had all gotten their weapons and armor repaired, but Ahposhon was the only one wearing chainmail and steel armor at the same time. His thoughts turn to worry as his mind wanders to Iyu and Tsun, since Iyu's armor consisted of cloth and Tsun's armor was made of wood

"What about the others? Lancelot, the Old Man, Tukami, and Karasu are all with the main force helping defend the front gate from the cultists. Shouldn't we help them?" Ahposhon pointed out to the group.

"Wait what about Hitoshi?" Questioned Tsun. "He would have not left Tukami's side unless he was badly injured."

"Tsun you need to calm down, he probably was ordered to help defend the other entrances to the Keep," commented Iyu. "You and I both know that Tukami cares for him, she probably wanted him to stay safe," insisted Iyu.

Tsun sighed as she focused her eyes back in front of her. The long corridor shakes from enemy fire as she through them. Her face below her eyes is covered with a mask of dark cloth. Her eyes travel down to her waist, landing on her katana blade and the short tanto at her right hip. One thing she disliked about herself was that she was a close range fighter, but she was a very agile close range fighter. She was definitely one of the more agile fighters in the group, the only one better than her in that department being Iyu.

The sound of footsteps is all that is heard for a few minutes, before the door in front of the group bursts open. An armored pair stands in the way of the group in the tight hallway. A man in iron and leather armor wielding a longsword and a woman wearing the same type of armor but wielding a flail and shield. Ahposhon steps in front of the group, his eyes narrowing in anger as he puts his full face helmet on. He pulls his gladius out of its sheath, getting into a battle ready stance, his sword pointed at the two cultists.

"You all keep going, I will rejoin you after I get rid of these two," said Ahposhon.

"You honestly think that you can both of us on at the same time? You must be an idiot if you think that we will lose to you. Come Adrian, we will show this fool what we are made of," said the woman.

"Yes Mistress Eliza, we will show him the power of Mount Ignus!" exclaimed the man now known as Adrian.

Ahposhon his helmet strap under his chin, never taking his eyes off the pair of cultists. He does not want to allow them a single moment that they could use to capitalize on with a surprise attack. He notices in the corner of his eye that the trio behind him starts moving down an adjacent hallway to keep going. He does not see Tsun lag behind, or that she had turned to look back at him before running after Atti and Iyu. Ahposhon's eyes wander up and down both of his opponents, seeing all the flaws that the two of them had in their fighting stances.

The young man had his feet too wide, and his grip was clearly not strong enough on the hilt of his longsword to wield it properly. His hands were shaking as well as his knees, it was obvious that he had not expected to be thrusted into being a soldier, or that he would have to fight to the death to survive. Sweat dripped down the man's face, but no one would see because of the helmet covering it.

The woman had her feet properly positioned, but one of the major flaws in her stance was that she was too close to the ground. A simple blocked strike from her flail would send her to the floor, which Ahposhon then could take advantage of. Some of the other flaws that the woman had were that a flail would be useless in such a tight hallway, she would not be able to get enough power behind her swings. The last flaw she had was that she had too much arrogance, which would lead to her downfall.

Ahposhon is brought out of his thoughts when Adrian's longsword crashes against his gladius. Sparks fly from their blades making contact, though Ahposhon does not have to put much force behind his guard as Adrian was not very strong or experienced. Adrian pulls his sword back before going for an overhead slash, barely missing the ceiling with the tip of his blade. Ahposhon steps to the side, watching the longsword strike the stone floor, jarring Adrian's arms from the shock. He stabs at Adrian, making a gash in the man's right bicep. The wound was not deep enough to render the arm useless, but it would hurt if Adrian moved it.

Eliza bashes Ahposhon in the chest with her shield, attempting to create some distance between him and Adrian. Ahposhon stumbles a few feet back, but quickly catches his footing. He gets into a more defensive stance because of the two-on-one situation he was in. He had never been good at taking on multiple people at once, but this situation would be different than the others. He would just have to bide his time till one of them made a mistake that he could take advantage of.

His opportunity came when Adrian let out a battle cry then slashed at him from his right. The longsword catches one of the wooden support beams holding the ceiling, getting stuck. Adrian tries to pull it out, but he does not get the chance to as a heavy armored boot collides with his chest. Adrian is sent flying back from Eliza and his trapped weapon, landing on his back several feet away with the wind knocked out of him.

"Adrian! Damn you, you will pay for that with your blood!" yelled Eliza. She broke off into a small sprint to cover the distance between herself and Ahposhon, all sense of calmness or fear gone from her head at the moment. She swings her flail at his extended leg, planning to take it out at the knee. Ahposhon spins, landing a roundhouse kick on Eliza's exposed side. She had stupidly left herself open to a counter when she had attacked him, but her flail still manages to catch Ahposhon's helmet, forcing his head to the left.

A grunt leaves Ahposhon's mouth, a dull throb starting to form in his head from the blow. His vision swims for a few moments, the images of his opponents blurring. He ducks under a swing of Eliza's flail, slashing at her waist. A long shallow cut opens on her chest, a growl escapes from her throat. Eliza stumbles back, using her left hand to grasp at her wound as blood flowed from it. Her head shoots back as a heavy punch explodes off her helmet, blood and sweat flying off her face. She falls onto her back because of the blow, her flail falling out of her hand. Ahposhon leaps onto her, impaling her weapon arm to the floor with his sword.

A pained scream leaves Eliza's throat as her right arm is rendered useless from the sword stabbed through it. Her screams were cut short as another heavy blow from Ahposhon's fist blasts off her helmet, bashing the back of her head into the stone floor, knocking her unconscious. Ahposhon is knocked away by a shoulder bash from Adrian. Adrian gets on top of Ahposhon, wrapping his hands around the man's throat.

Ahposhon lets out a pained gasp as Adrian starts to squeeze his throat. He grabs at the back of his waist, finding his concealed dagger. He plunges the weapon up to its hilt in Adrian's side, right below the ribs. Blood dribbles out of Adrian's mouth as it wells up in his throat. He gets off Ahposhon, grabbing at the dagger's hilt before falling to his knees. Ahposhon shakily gets back to his feet, anger burning in his crimson eyes. He walks over to the injured man, forcefully pulling his dagger out of the side of Adrian's chest. He watches the scarlet stream of blood roll down Adrian's black and red chestplate. A frown forms on Ahposhon's face, not that Adrian could see it because of the helmet.

He grabs Adrian by the throat, watching the man weakly grab and pull at his hand. Even though the loss of blood was greatly affecting Adrian, he was still trying to fight to stay alive.

"You still fight even though you have clearly lost, I commend you for that. If only you two had not ran into me and gotten into this fight, then you both could have lived longer. I will pray to the gods that your souls will reach the afterlife. Now rest, and pass onto the next life," Ahposhon said to Adrian.

Without saying anything more Ahposhon stabs Adrian below the chin into his head. The dagger pierces through the man's skull and reaches his brain, killing him instantly. Ahposhon gently pulls the small blade from the wound, laying Adrian's body down with care. Ahposhon looks over at Eliza's unconscious body, seeing the pool of blood forming around her. He had pierced one of her main arteries so she would bleed out in a few moments. He walks over to her, pulling his gladius out of her arm and the floor, allowing the blood to flow from the wound easier. He quickly flicks his weapons to his sides, cleaning them of the blood that covered the blades.

Ahposhon sheathes his dagger and gladius, moving away from the spreading pool of blood from Eliza. He steps around the bodies, taking off into a run down the hallway his friends had taken. He had some small wounds, not them even being close to being considered severe. The only real wound he had was the blow to the head from Eliza's flail, and even that had already stopped bleeding. He guessed that his fight had taken not ten minutes, so he hoped that he would be able to group back up with his friends. He hopes they are all alright, he did not want to have to bury any of his comrades today.

The sound of catapult fire becomes louder as he approaches a door at the end of the long corridor. He bursts through the closed door, sunlight assaulting his eyes, forcing them to adjust to the brightness. His eyes wander the battlefield in front of him, looking for any sign of Iyu, Atti, or Tsun. He spots the hint of what seems to be a large sword behind a large fallen stone pillar. He runs towards it, recognizing the design of the sword, knowing that it was Atti's claymore. He watches as Iyu pokes her out from behind the pillar, noticing him as he gets closer. Ahposhon rolls to avoid some enemy archer fire, and manages to slide behind the cover of the stone pillar, surprising Tsun enough to make her accidentally drop her katana.

"There you all are, sorry that it took so long, even though I had the situational advantage they were both decent warriors. Are all of you alright though, no wounds that need immediate medical attention?" Ahposhon asked the trio.

"I think we are all fine lad, just some minor scrapes, cuts, and bruises, nothing terrible though," Atti answers for them, his voice more gravelly than it usually is. "We have been pinned down for a few minutes now, so do you have any ideas on how we get out of here?" Atti asked Ahposhon.

Ahposhon nods, placing one of his hands on the scabbard of his gladius. He had one idea in mind, but it was very risky. He pokes his head over the pillar that is their cover, but ducks back down as an arrow flies over his head.

"I have an idea, it may be risky but I think it will work. Just stay behind me, I'll draw the archer's fire so you all can take them out from behind. If we do this right we will save countless men and women from their barrage of arrows," Ahposhon explained.'

The trio nod at his plan, which makes him smile under his helmet. He stands up from the cover of the pillar, sprinting at the now panicked archers.


End file.
